Reflections from the Heart – October 20, 2024

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.” What do you hope for, will it make you happier, better off, more content? What if it really happened, how would you be different, the world better, God pleased with you asking? Sometimes we hope for things that can be helpful to others, other times we ask for things that can hurt others. Sometimes we hope to be faster than another, better looking than another, smarter than another, wealthier than another is. Sometimes we hope for grace, a blessing, we will the good for the other. Other times we hope and pray that another person fails, that we could have had different parents, another spouse, better siblings. Sometimes we envy what others have, own, or gifted. Sometimes we hope to be different, have a different identity, perhaps be born in another era – perhaps never born at all. We may hope to be different from ourselves; different from others, somehow better or greater in our eyes or better or less known in our own opinion. Sometimes we hope for things that do not really matter or benefit others. At times, we pray for the demise of another, the ridding of a people, the elimination of an individual. In the end, will that really help us? Will that help you? Scripture says hope never disappoints and that our hope is in the Lord who made heaven and earth. Our hope is in the One who came to save us, redeem us and grant us everlasting life and peace. Our hope is that God will love us, breathe new life in us, resurrect us and join us to our family and friends who have died in the hope of rising again. Our hope is that God will believe us, forgive us, heal us, never abandon or leave us but remain with us forever. Hope encourages faith, gives strength, increases confidence, and inspires us to keep going. Hope floods us with the hope and possibility of loving again. Hope inspires us to say, we can do it, everything is going to be okay, God will get us through this. Hope is the blessing that gives us the confidence to believe, the dare to dream, the power to wait with quiet expectation and the patience to long for something better, more worthwhile, someone who will bring us the help and healing we need, an end to our chronic suffering, give us a new day, an everlasting life and perpetual peace. Hope. God will provide.